Media and crisis management is the most visible side of PR. But most of WHAM’s work involves sustained behind-the-scenes work, helping our clients communicate effectively with their customers, staff and other stakeholders. More…

01 August 2002

The toxic telegraph

If you really want the public to get alarmed about a public health issue, try hiding it from them.

Unfortunately for Vegfed's executive officer, Ron Gall, nobody told him that before he circulated a letter last summer, recommending that the public be kept in the dark about dangerous levels of natural toxins in zucchinis.

Hindsight is a great thing, but what was he thinking? Surely he would have realised that to any self-respecting journalist, his words, "this issue has not reached the media and we want to keep it that way," would be like a red rag to a bull.

Hiding information about public health issues is unethical and unwise. When the truth is finally revealed, the negative impact is 10 times greater than if there had been a full fess-up at the time.

Our advice: Don't do it!

But let's not get too hard on Ron Gall. Even professional communicators can get it terribly wrong, if papers released during the Corngate saga are to be believed. A leading PR consultant reportedly advised the government to refer to ‘maize' rather than ‘sweetcorn' in its media releases on the topic. The crop in fact was sweetcorn.